An exhibition of reed paintings by Jean Bacon
August 14 – 24 2007,
Blythburgh church
Exhibition opening hours
Except during services, the exhibition can be visited whenever the church
is open: notionally from 9 am until 6 pm every day. There will
be a service lasting less than an hour at 10 am on both Tuesday 14th and
Tuesday 21st. On Sunday 19th there is a service at 9.30, and
the exhibition will be open from about 10.30 until 6 (when there is a brief
Compline service). We shall be sharing the church with the
Blythburgh horticultural society on Saturday 18th, but that shouldn't be
a problem.
The Exhibition at Blythburgh in retrospect
The exhibition at Blythburgh has now come and gone, and it's fair to say that
it was an interesting experience all round. The hours of opening
were much longer than we were used to from past exhibitions, and that was
tiring; but it never dragged, as the church is a wonderful space, and in
particular it proved easy to write there. The weather was pretty
awful throughout the two weeks, but even so Jean sold enough pictures to
make a decent contribution to our good causes. And all sorts of
interesting people turned up!
The only photographs of the exhibition currently available are those taken
to show how the paintings looked when hung in the church. A new
thumbnail index for that set has been included above. The plan
is to add some of the photographs of the carved bench ends, also some more
general architectural interiors and exteriors, when time permits.
A number of photographs were also included in the exhibition, all taken from
the selection available above. The only ones actually on display
- as opposed to being in a portfolio - were two tableaux at the entrance
to the screen space. The 3x3
collection on the left showed the range of freshwater marshes that had
inspired the paintings, from Covehithe in the north to Minsmere in the
south. The 4x4 collection on the
right presented more detailed features - in particular, the second column
was a bird quiz that proved popular, particularly with the children.
February 2008 reprise at the Art Centre in King's
Not many people from the Cambridge area came (it was great to see the ones
that did!), so we've arranged to bring the exhibition to the Art Centre in
King's in February 2008. The idea is to combine the paintings
that were left over from the exhibition with some of the new work that Jean
experimented with while she was in the church - in particular the pew end
carvings, and some of the architectural detail, notably the font and the
spiral stair by the screen. Depending on available space there
may be one or two photographs of the reeds as well. We shall
be there at least between Sunday 17th February and Sunday 24th February
inclusive, but will only open briefly over lunch time midweek.
There is a separate Web site for the
February exhibition.
Accommodation in the Blythburgh area
There is lots of information on the Web, for example see
Blythweb.
Getting to Blythburgh
Blythburgh is at the head of the Blyth estuary, where the A12 crosses
it on a causeway. The arrow on the
map
of NE Suffolk points to our house, part of a former 18th century House of
Industry. A
close-up map shows the centre of the village, and in particular the church
and the pub. The NW arrow shows the entrance to our house
(#22 Blyth View), while the arrow in the village itself marks the entrance
to the church car park. This is a gateway to the SW of Church Lane,
SE of its junction with Priory Road. If you come to the exhibition,
please park in the church car park.
By public transport
By car: from London
and the SE
from Norfolk
from Cambridge and the
Midlands
Good causes for August 2007
The paintings are for sale, and there are related items such as gift
cards. The exhibition is essentially non-profit making, though -
once we've met the cost of the frames, any surplus will be split between
two local good causes.
Blythburgh church
The south aisle roof has been leaking in recent storms, and an inspection
has shown that it is in urgent need of re-leading. About
£200,000 is required, which is a lot for a small parish to
find. A formal appeal is to be launched in the autumn, but any
contribution now will be more than welcome.
RSPB
Reedbeds are an essential feature of freshwater marshes, which at present
are under real threat. Each winter brings new breaches of the
sea defences, and salt water changes the whole ecosystem. The
RSPB has a significant presence on the East coast;
Minsmere is only about six miles away, and the RSPB is also involved
with several other local reserves. A number of RSPB leaflets
will be available at the exhibition.
We often walk between Walberswick and Dunwich, among marshes that are
managed by a combination of the RSPB,
Natural England and
Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
Many of the scenes in the paintings derive from this area.
Background to the exhibition
Since moving to Blythburgh in April 2003 we have walked widely in the
surrounding countryside, mainly in the strip of Suffolk coast between Benacre
in the north and Minsmere in the south. During that time we have
become fascinated by the reedbeds, and in particular the changes of colour as
the year proceeds, and the shifts in the light as the angle of the sun changes.
Ken Moody was commissioned to document the changes of light and
colour in the reedbed for a complete year. The project got off
to a flying start on January 1st 2005, an exceptionally clear day with a
low winter sun. As luck would have it, January 1st 2006 was
another beautiful day, and in any case the project had its own momentum
by then. So the reed photographs have continued, but the sense
of discovery is gradually fading.
Jean Bacon started to paint her watercolours of the reeds in that
New Year of 2006. She used some of the photographs as an initial
reference, but relied increasingly on her memory and imagination As
in the past, once the brushes that make reeds had become a part of her,
freedom of expression sometimes moved her work in unexpected directions.
The three thumbnails are directly related to the
exhibition. The photograph on the left was taken on August 11th
2005, and so shows the reeds much as they were when it took
place. The scene is the artist walking down part of the Suffolk
Coastal path that leads from Little Dingle to the freshwater marshes south
of Walberswick. The dragonfly on the right is a male broad-bodied
chaser. The painting in the middle derives quite closely from a
photograph taken on January 1st 2006, showing the Blyth valley upstream
from Blythburgh
church, with the church itself in the background. Finally,
the view of the interior of the church was taken on the afternoon of March
20th 2007. The church escaped improvement during the
nineteenth century, and it is brilliantly lit on all but the dullest of
days. Depending on space, it is likely that a few of the
photographs will also be on display at the exhibition.
There are various posters for the exhibition in .html:
A4 format
August reeds
River Blyth in winter
church interior
A5 format
August reeds
River Blyth in winter
church interior
In addition the following posters are available in .pdf:
A4 format
August reeds
River Blyth in winter
church interior
A5 format
August reeds
River Blyth in winter
church interior
August reeds (A4 landscape, will cut into two A5 portrait)